This invention relates to railway vehicles, more specifically to couplers for joining a plurality of railway cars and locomotives together to form long trains.
Couplers for connecting railway cars and locomotives together into trains are well known to those knowledgeable in the mechanical arts. The earliest couplers were simple iron chains hung between hooks attached to the ends of railway cars. Cars and locomotives using this very simple system required separate coil spring bumpers projecting from their corners to absorb the shock of impacting each other to prevent damage whenever the train stopped or slowed down Modern Janney-type couplers, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,733 to Gagliardino, a variation on the Type E coupler standard on American railways since 1932, perform both the connecting and shock absorbing functions. These have a pivotal vertical knuckle adapted to engage an identical vertical knuckle on an adjacent coupler so that when the couplers are brought into contact with each other, the two knuckles are pivoted into an interlocking engaging position. The use of oil and gas filled shock absorbers to cushion the impact when cars contact each other is also well known to those knowledgeable in the art, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,303 to Hodges.
Gagliardino teaches that to permit a railway train to safely negotiate curves in the tracks, the couplers are pivotally connected to the railway car so that, pursuant to an American Association of Railways specification, each coupler can pivot 13 degrees in a horizontal plane to either side of the longitudinal center line of the car. Therefore, to join a pair of railway cars together, it may be necessary to pivot the couplers so that they are generally aligned and directly opposed to each other. While proper straight alignment may naturally result when a pair of cars are uncoupled while on a length of straight track, there are times when they are not properly aligned for joining. For example, when a pair of cars are uncoupled while on a curved track, the couplers will not normally extend perpendicularly from the end of the railway car, making proper coupling impossible when they are later moved onto a straight track. Similarly, there are times when railway cars to be coupled together are on a length of curved track, and the coupler shanks are oriented perpendicularly from the ends of the car to be joined rather than pivoting toward each other 13 degrees for proper joining. Accordingly, it may be necessary for a conductor or trainman to manually position the couplers by pushing or pulling them into proper alignment before the can can successfully be joined by moving the couplers into alignment by hand. If attempts to join a pair of railway cars are made when the couplers are not properly aligned, the impact of misaligned couplers may cause damage to one or both couplers.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,101, Blute teaches that highway truck trailers can be coupled together to form trains using a horizontally oriented V shaped member, such as found on 5th wheel turntables of highway truck tractors. These usually include a U shaped jaw that pivots around a vertically oriented pin, such as the kingpin found on highway truck semi-trailers. The V shaped member does not need to be in perfect alignment with the pin for successful coupling.
Advancements in transport refrigeration, hazardous material cargo monitoring, railway vehicle braking and control systems, and even national security requirements to prevent terrorism, have created a need for additional connections between railway cars such as compressed air hoses to power brakes and electrical cables to power refrigeration units, monitor access doors, or transmit data from temperature sensors. Electrically controlled anti-lock brakes, for instance, will allow railway trains to stop in a shorter distance without wearing flat spots on their steel wheels. Temperature sensors connected to the wheels will be able to detect hot wheel bearings and other potentially catastrophic maintenance problems before they occur, even on unmanned remote control trains because no provision for these additional fluid and electrical connections is included in existing railway car couplers, considerable manual labor is involved in attaching these additional wires and hoses and again in disconnecting them when cam are to be separated from a train. It is desired to provide a coupler that incorporates additional fluid and electrical connections and can also be operated remotely without manual adjustment or control.
Advancements in intermodal technology have made it feasible to remove railway cars from the tracks for the purpose of loading, unloading, or transport by means other than by rail. Existing couplers and connectors are often very heavy and protrude from the ends of railway cars making it difficult for cranes and intermodal vehicles to lift the cars on and off the tracks. It is further desired to provide a coupler suitable for intermodal railway vehicles intended to be easily lifted on and off of the railway tracks.
The Automatic Intermodal Railcar Coupler of my invention comprises a male coupler to be attached in the rear of a railway car and a female coupler to be attached in the front of a second railway car so that when the cars are pushed together in contact with each other, they will be coupled together without damage to either car or their contents. The male coupler further comprises a horizontal shaft, which is hollow to accommodate fluid and electrical connectors, and a vertical shaft protruding underneath the horizontal shaft The female coupler further comprises a receptacle containing fluid and electrical connectors that can be joined with those in the horizontal shaft of the male coupler and a knuckle to catch and restrain the vertical shaft of the male coupler so that the cars will be pivotally connected together. The receptacle of the female coupler is held in place by a safety catch when air pressure is applied to release the car""s brakes, thus preventing the cars from becoming uncoupled while in transport, yet this receptacle is attached to a shaft with enough vertical movement to allow the cars to be automatically uncoupled when air pressure is released by lifting the entire railway car containing the male coupler vertically off the tracks by means of an intermodal vehicle or other type of crane so that the vertical shaft of the male coupler rises above the knuckle of the female coupler. The receptacle is provided with a V shaped housing so that the horizontal shaft does not need to be perfectly aligned with the receptacle for successful coupling.